Absolute Zero
by Arch Villain
Summary: A soldier with no war left to fight; a hero with no evil to vanquish. Man, or machine-does it even matter any more? He supposes not.
1. Remnant

The night breathed a heavy sigh, flooding warm air in through an open window, raising goose bumps on the arms of the man inside. He lay there, on his bed with hair fanned out behind him. Slowly closing his eyes, he sat up, feet making contact with the cold wooden floor. An unwelcome feeling, yes, but it was needed all the same. He needed to think clearly at the moment. Standing up, he slowly made his way to his window. Leaning on the frame, he gazed into the city below him. So full of life, bright, joyous. A feeling he lacked all too much these days. He focused his vision on a particular group; teenage girls, heading in to a club with a bright neon sign. Night life was an interesting thing, he could watch it all night. Then again, he was never the type to watch, he preferred to act. Leaving his windowsill, he walked to a cabinet in his room, and pulled out a large, rectangular glass bottle filled with scotch. Pouring himself a glass, he plopped several square E-crystals into the deep brown liquid. Yes, that was his poison of choice. Odd, perhaps even dangerous to a human, but he was no human. A reploid, a beautifully made one at that. Originally intended for battle, his makers had seen fit to give him human organs, among other things.

One woman in particular had enjoyed his company for many years. One Ceil of the guardians, whom he spent many years alongside.

On the guardian ship, she would often cry to him, clutching him while he would hold her, cradling her while telling her it was all okay. And in truth, it was. In the small world that was her room, everything was okay. That was what she needed most nights. Some nights, she would request comforting that was a bit more… physical. It was an awkward procedure at first, but gradually it started to come naturally. When the deed was done, she would curl up into his chest while he would whisper sweet nothings to her, waiting until she fell into slumber to do the same. There came a time, however, when things like that would come to an end. When he killed Weil once and for all. He had survived the impact by a stroke of luck. He caught Weil's carcass and used it to break the impact of landing. He had just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

Fate wasn't done shitting on him just yet.

He took a sip from his drink, trying to recollect the events of that day. The Guardians had seen fit to give him an honorable discharge. The party was truly a great sight. At first glance. He had worn a crimson tux, and had met Ceil before, and she was on his arm the entire time. And he had smiled, for her, and only for her. He had only smiled because it made her happy. For him, at least, it was a heartbreaking experience. Odds were he would never see her again, so he made that night special for her. Very special. That night, she had screamed so loud for him, the next door neighbor complained. And got his ass kicked.

Zero smirked as he poured more of the sickly sweet liquid into his mouth. He gazed out the window again as he tried to recollect the events of the night.

He had woken up the next morning and found not her, but a note, explaining that she was needed with the guardians, and could not stay. He hit rock bottom that night, drinking all he could afford and isolating himself to his house. In the darkness, he sat, contemplating the meaning of his life without a purpose. He swallowed hard and took another swig of his drink. Setting the glass down on his nightstand, he began to think about his life again. Those were dark times, when he thought he had no purpose. Now, he had become at peace with his situation. No girlfriend, no social life, but things would solve themselves in time. Right now, it was just too much of a hassle. He was still recognized as a big hero, and always found people making a big deal about his presence. Even making a trip to a coffee shop could become a fiasco. That's why he only went out at night anymore. The youth of this time were too concerned with their own lives to care much about affairs. He could continue like this for years. He was over a thousand years old, and could go another couple thousand without a maintenance. By then, the people would dismiss his presence as that of a normal person, and he could go out into public freely again. He wanted to go out, and that was truth. It was just another hassle to deal with in life, and he, quite frankly, didn't like people. The human race was a fickle one, and only once in a great while will you come across a good one. Most humans, or at least a good deal of them, were bad, evil, or just a plain jackass. What he needed right now was an excuse to go out, to convince himself he had to.

Picking up his drink again, he went back to the window, leaning out as he gazed upon the nightlife. That same group of girls were coming out of the same club, stumbling awkwardly.

"Great… just what I need, a group of drunken girls." He didn't know what it was that compelled him, but he saw it as his duty to act as sort of a peacekeeper at night, keeping all the rapists and criminals in their place in this city. Grabbing a helmet and a buster, he slipped it on. Nothing was really special about it, just a couple of modifications. Black paint job, a facemask, and a visor. Nothing special, just kept his identity under wraps. Slipping the buster into a slot on his belt, he slipped on a combat jacket. Taking a running start, he grabbed the upper frame of his window and swung to the top of the apartment complex. Taking a light jump, he hopped to the next building. Then the next, and the next, and before a short while, he was simply following the girls from the rooftops. Sure enough, the girls were met by a group of shady looking men.

"Hey there, beautiful. Going somewhere?" Zero simply waited, now was not the time to make assumptions.

"Yeah, We're going home. Like, without you creeps, duh."

"Is that so?" Another group of men circled in behind the girls, closing them in. "you see, we were in the mind that you would come home with us." The group of girls was now pressed tightly into a circle, confined by the group of men surrounding them. Now it was not a question of if, it was one of when. And when is… NOW!

Zero jumped into the midst of the larger group of men, taking several out. A sweeping kick dispatched the rest. Unlatching his buster from his belt, he knocked out the first line of the latter group. The rest came at him with energy daggers. Barbaric tech, really. These poor bastards couldn't even afford decent weapons. Performing a somersault, he jumped over them and knocked one out with the butt of his gun. The rest were unlucky enough to meet his fists. Zero sighed. He wondered how it felt to have your stomach cave in on itself.

When he was finished, the girls looked shaken, to say the least. With them cowering in a corner, he carefully approached them. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you. Go home, those guys are history."

They were still in that corner when he leaped up to the roof.

M-E-G-A-M-A-N-Z-E-R-O-

So, whaddya think? Leave comments and questions in the reviews. No flames please.


	2. Chapter 2

Light filtered in through the blinds of a lush bedroom, falling upon the face of our hero, who was currently not enjoying being woken up. "Oh…" he swung his feet out and around, hanging over the corner of the bed so he could hunch over and hold his head. "I drank way too much last night…" He pulled his face into a grimace and padded over into the kitchen, pouring himself a large cup of coffee. 'stupid human body reactions…' he stopped thinking almost as soon as he had started, because he realized that thinking, whilst hung over, hurt. A lot.

He sank into a dark oak chair at his table, taking a large drink of coffee. He looked out of the window, a bright, beautiful vision of a summer day met his vision, and a small smile worked it's way onto his face. 'so not ALL things suck today.' He tapped a panel on his table, and a small holographic screen popped up. "Welcome to the Daily spark, what may I bring up for you today?" The screen spoke in a cheerful voice. "Yeah… let me get the classifieds, please." "Okey-doke!" He took another sip of his coffee as the screen flicked through a few tabs. "There you go, mister!" "Sure, whatever." He tapped through several options of the digital newspaper, taking yet another drink of coffee. "Miner… no. Arena fighter… absolutely not. Hmm… this one looks interesting." He pressed his finger to the screen, and a logo popped up. The multicolor circle spun and slowly came to a stop, revealing it to be comprised of three sections, one red, one blue, and one green.

"Huh. Says the name is… Guardian Corp." He flicked downward, and the screen rolled with his finger. The ad said: 'Administrative assistant needed. No experience required. All applicants accepted' Well, it sounded easy enough. He scrolled downward toward the particulars. "interviews held at… 11:00 A.M." he glanced at his watch. "well, it's almost that time, and it DOES sound like a cushy job." He drained the last of the coffee from the mug and left it on the counter.

The streets were brimming with life. Not unusual for a beautiful day such as this one, but pretty inconvenient if you were trying to get somewhere. Zero ducked and dodged as best he could through the sidewalk traffic, nearly hitting a young girl twirling and handing out flowers. "here you go, mister!" she tucked a bright orange flower into his drab, blue dress shirt. "see? You're all pretty now!" "thanks, kid." He patted her on the head and slipped a few dollars into her hand. "thanks, mister!" a cheerful smile spread ear to ear on her face, and she continued skipping down the street. He continued walking down the street, a newfound skip in his step. He slipped through another few dozen people and came across the pedestrians nightmare:

A crowded intersection.

"hmm…" he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and looked at his watch. It was 12 minutes to the interview, and he had to be over there and a half mile down the street. "well…" the edge of the crosswalk wasn't too crowded, he supposed he could. He took a step back from the curb and crouched. The white ankle rings around the top of his boots expanded. Springing up from his crouch, the rings shrunk suddenly, and a burst of burning energy was launched, sending him sailing across the intersection. Zero smiled. He'd almost forgotten how much fun this was. He landed shortly on the other side, leaving a large pockmark in his wake. Straightening his outfit, he took notice that the explosion launch had left his cargo pants with a flare detail. Definitely cool. He brushed himself off and took off down the street, stopping before an oppressive, massive skyscraper. He pulled a piece of paper from his paper. (find address for building). Yup, this is the place. He walked forward, and the large glass doors slid to either side, revealing a bustling workplace. People in business suit hurried about, talking to people here and there, carrying large folders, what you'd normally expect in a large business. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a white orb whiz past him, fly down a hallway, and then he saw it stop, back up, and look at him. "Ah, yes, you must be one of the applicants, hmm? Well, that's just wonderful! Another person to work at this place of wonder! Hurrah!" The orb did a little swoop, the face on its bright blue screen in a happy expression. "Well, if you're one of the recruits, you'll want to go interview, right? Right. Come with me, stranger! By the way, what's your name? Mine's Colin!" The white orb started floating backwards, the screen still facing him. "My name's…" He looked around, astounded by the sheer enormity of the structure. "Zero." "Oh, really? That's a very nice name. If you'd follow me, please." The orb turned around and resumed floating forward. Zero slowly followed Colin, and while he was walking, something, or rather, _someone _caught his eye. A woman with long, bright blue hair and deep, deep blue eyes…

Zero found himself staring at this marvel of nature, who was sitting with two men: one with short green hair, the other shoulder length red. She flashed him a small smile, and he smiled back and suddenly a ball of white and blue was in his line of vision. "Hello! Mister Zero, was it? We need to get to your interview." Colin smiled and floated off again. Walking after him, he gave the woman a little wave. She waved back just as he entered a hallway. 'Beautiful Woman.' Having followed Colin absentmindedly, he found himself in the midst of a room of people. Most of them looked uptight, he noted, and the rest looked a little gone. He looked himself over quickly. Attire wasn't too professional, his personality carried a charm, and he could get a task done. Perfect for an interview. He took an empty seat and promptly immersed himself in a magazine. Time passed without warning, and before long, he found himself sitting alone, well, practically. A few more people were scattered about the room. Colin came back in through a door way and approached him. "Well, Mister Zero, the time for your interview has come." Colin made a noise that, as far as Zero could guess, was supposed to be a squeal. "I'm sure you'll do fantastically." Zero steadily got up and walked to the door. He had to wonder; what kind of person was this? To turn down every applicant so far, they sure had high standards. He nervously entered the room and his stomach did a small flip. The large, high back chair behind the desk was turned around ominously, and there was a single chair in the small room. "Have a seat, mister Zero." The voice was sweet and sultry, clearly effeminate. He took a seat. In fact, he was pretty sure he'd heard that voice before…

"What is it you think qualifies you for this position?" "Well, I'm reliable, fast, and can get a job done." "That certainly is interesting, Mr. Zero. Previous jobs?" "Well, until recently, I'd worked for the guardians, you know, the group that destroyed Ragnarok and Weil?" The chair rocked forward and back slightly, as if she was nodding. "Is that all?" "Only job I've ever had." The chair turned slowly, carefully, meticulously around, only to reveal…

The woman he'd seen earlier.

She had a small smile on her face, behind which was an emotion he couldn't quite place. Her eyes seemed to pull him in, deeper into a sea of emotion… "Zero…" Deeper and deeper… "Zero…" She snapped her fingers, bringing him back to reality. "Mr. Zero, do you happen to know who I am?" He shook his head stupidly, and she stood and circled around the desk. "I just happen to be…" She sat on his lap and pulled his face closer to her own. "One Fairy Leviathan of The generals…" She traced the outline of his face, and got up, heading back to her desk chair, Zero's face lighting up immediately. "Fairy? What are you doing here?" "Well, after Weil fell, Neo Arcadia's political system kicked back in and the generals were no longer required to keep peace." She smiled nervously, and a thoughtful expression crossed Zero's face. "so… were those two guys you were sitting with were Fefnir and Harpuria?" "Yup." "Cool. I'd never seen them without their armor before." "Anyway…" She swiveled around in her chair, typing a few keys into her desktop computer. "You have the job." "Really? That's awesome. Why did you turn down all the other applicants?" "Very, very simple." A mischievous smile crossed her face. "They weren't you."


End file.
